From February 17th to 23rd, the UAE Tour 2025 will take place. It is the second World Tour stage-race of the year and will feature plenty of stars in the field of the sprinters and also climbers - headlined by Tadej Pogacar. We take a look at it's profiles.
The seven-day race follows almost the exact same format of past year, with the same kinds of stages, same finishes... So the riders who have been here before know exactly what they will face. It is a race with two summit finishes, a short time-trial and four pan-flat stages for the sprinters.
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The first stage of the race is a full-on ride through the desert, much of the stage in a literal straight line, where strong winds could create absolute chaos. To be fair on the riders, there will only be 137 kilometers of racing, but I doubt there will be many excited to tackle on such a route.
The finale however will be slightly uphill in Liwa, giving way to an exciting first sprint for the race lead. It's not an easy one, and the battles for leadout won't be so ferocious in the final kilometer, but instead into the final corner with over 1.5 kilometers to go. From there on, pure power will matter, but form and sustained power will be just as important.
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Stage 2 is an Individual Time Trial that takes place entirely inside Al Hudayriyat Island. The route is very fast and is characterized only by a few right angle bends and two U-turns. The road is perfectly flat, wide and with sweeping curves, which will allow riders to maintain very high speeds (wind permitting).
It is an important day for the overall classification. Before the race reaches the mountains, this day will set some order amongst the climbers, and will dictate those who have to go on the attack and those who can already race in the defensive from this moment onwards.
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The first of the two mountain stages of the UAE Tour. The stage is divided into two distinct parts. The first one approaches the final mountain through the desert, while the last one is characterized by approximately 20 km of continuous ascent to the finish. Starting from Ras Al Khalma, only the wind can make it a non-slow start to the day.
The Jebel Jais. A climb that has begun being used quite often in the last editions of the race, earning it's spot as the second summit finish after the UAE Tour cemented Jebel Hafeet as it's main attraction. This climb is a totally different beast however, as the gradients are constant and never overly high. The gradients start off quite gently, but in total the climb has over 21 kilometers in distance, averaging 5.4%.
And amazingly the gradients remain almost completely constant the whole way up the mountain. It reaches up to 7% towards the finale, but it's an ascent where the average speeds stay close to 30 kilometers per hour. Drafting is crucial, and attacking from far highly unlikely to succeed. Although it's a twisty road all of the hairpins are very long and doesn't actually allow for sudden accelerations to surprise. The final minutes of the ascent can make differences however as it's a decently long effort, and there will be important signs given between the riders who are fighting for the overall classification.
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Starting from Fujairah Qidfa Beach to reach Umm Al Quwain, the stage crosses the desert areas on the edge of the Hajar Mountains. Here it covers several stretches of highway until reaching Umm Al Quwain for the final sprint. The entire route is on wide, straight, well-paved roads through the desert.
The sprint is going to be a simple one, with two small roundabouts inside the final 2.7 kilometers but they are not big... Sprinter's paradise, it will all be about timing on this day, a simple sprint that will demand sharp tactics from all leadouts.
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Stage 5 will be similar to the previous day, with no difficulties to point and another sprinter certain at the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, the most technical finale of the race. The peloton will briefly go into the desert on this day so the chances of seeing splits exists, but it's an out-and-back course...
The race organizers didn't pull too many strings when it came to making this a complex race. The finale will be flat, this one with two right-handers inside the final kilometers to string things out a bit. The final sprint will be in a regular road with no obstacles to bother the fast men.
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Stage 6 will be taking place in Abu Dhabi, where the 2016 World Championships were hosted. The stage, designed once again for the sprinters, will be very calm certainly but the finale ultra-fast. The world's fastest riders will be taking glory once again.
The riders will have an impressive total of 176 climbing meters throughout the 166 kilometers, or in other terms, the climbing meters that are equivalent to an average hill anywhere in Europe. A very fast day through an urban environment means very high speeds, and with it comes tension.
However there won't be much fight for positioning, as the finale is not technical at all. The final corner comes with several kilometers to go, the finale at the Abu Dhabi Breakwater has some slight left and right-leaning bends but it will be all about timing the leadouts and launching the sprint at the right moment.
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The classic mountain stage of the UAE Tour. In the first part, the route winds through Al Ain, visiting many of its landmarks (Al Ain University, Al Qattara, Al Hili), and then takes a long desert ride to the west until it returns to Green Mubazzarah. Here begins the final ascent of Jebel Hafeet, which with its 10 km section will be the final judge of the race.
Aside from winds there is nothing to fear from the day. It's a short day on the bike with only 176 kilometers on the menu, but the final ascent dictates this to be the queen stage most likely. The numbers aren't brutal, but very often very big differences are created in the slopes of Jebel Hafeet. 10.8 kilometers at 6.6% are the official details, but the gradients aren't as consistent as Jebel Jais.
In it's middle 7 kilometers the grades average 8% consistently, reaching as high as 11% with some steep hairpins included. Usually the main moves happen there, in what is a wide, completely exposed road which adds to the difficulty. The final kilometers have a couple of flat and even downhill sections, with some steep ramps inbetween. The final sprint will be uphill, although the late final corner has in the past seen crashes so caution must be had.
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The UAE Tour is now just days away, we sat down with some of the riders taking part to get their thoughts 💭 #UAETour @AbuDhabiSC@ihc__official@Mubadala@NakheelOfficial@aldar pic.twitter.com/m0S4ki4ob8
— UAE Tour Official (@uae_tour) February 13, 2025
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- Chapeau to Pauline Ferrand-Prevot on a very nice victory. She is a deceivingly powerful ride, and it was impressive how she slowly pulled away like she did, pushing a very big gear. It was an entertaining race to watch, and a pleasant surprise in the end.
santiagobenites12-04-2025 - Michael Jordan was cut from his high school baseketball team. but there are stories of Tadej racing and winning as a youth. this is a stupid article.mij12-04-2025
- I wouldn't be so sure of that.....our latest model runs have light patchy rain across du Nord into the early evening. Rain isn't overly heavy overnight but enough to possibly cause utter chaosslappers6612-04-2025
- Apart from a few outliers, in athletics, premature developers who held age group records didn’t get very far later and most athletes who became world stars never had early age records, I’d be surprised if in cycling it was any different.Mistermaumau12-04-2025
- You can enjoy it by all means but will you also take responsibility for the consequences of encouraging it through that? Because we all pay the price of the way it affects people, moods, behaviour, illness, violence, crime, social degeneration, etc, no real good comes of it or what do you feel there is to gain from it other than experiencing a momentary emotional high some might not be able to achieve any other way?Mistermaumau12-04-2025
- There's no reason we can't live in the real world while enjoying the doped up sport.Veganpotter12-04-2025
- Tadej definitely wasn't terribly out of the ordinary as a junior. Just goes to show what great coaching and a proper "supplement" regiment can turn someone into.Veganpotter12-04-2025
- Nice one. Not 100% officially a placebo but in my early days of group training in Mallorca I and another guy were reputed to ride without food (and once I paid the price for it having to be pushed back to base). On one particularly long outing things started getting difficult and the other guy mentioned he could really do with something to eat, one of the jokers offered him a home-wrapped snack, the latest nutritional supplement on the market and he started flying, showing and boasting all the way home how good he was feeling. At dinner, in front of 40 or so of his mates it was then revealed it had simply been a premeditated prank with a cheap doggy biscuit. Don’t know if anyone later ever considered experimenting with dogfood doping, was just happy not to have been selected as the victim.Mistermaumau12-04-2025
- Veganpotter, I’d take that as a compliment, like not knowing how to manufacture a bomb :-)Mistermaumau12-04-2025
- Most of us really overlook the reality of what happens physically when a bike tire goes over cobbles, we are too focused on experience, feeling and intuition to actually look at what should be a microscopic slow-motion analysis. I think it would help many to better imagine what is happening by comparing the situation to differing boat types advancing on wavy waters. You start with typical boats and play around with wave height and amplitude and then you progress onto more advanced designs, motorboats, catamarans, hovercraft, jetskis, gliders on different types of waves. Nce you can eliminate most of the wave and just skim the tops, the wave topography reduces to something minimal, this is the grail of bike design for cobbles, tough because no cobbled sector has exactly the same pattern. Does anyone know if wheel size is UCI regulated or is there a margin?Mistermaumau12-04-2025